“At Peace of Thread, we empower groups of international women by teaching them to sew. The women in the current class are from six different African countries. When they learn to sew proficiently, they will take the machines home with them, and it becomes a home-based business. Many of these women have big families, and they need to be home with their children. This gives them an opportunity to do that and to make some money. Each purse that we sell is one-of-a-kind, is lined, and is completely finished on the inside. Each one has the artist’s name in it. The artist receives 50% of the proceeds from the sale of the items they create, and with the other 50%, Peace of Thread pays sales tax and festival fees, buys thread and materials, keeps the machines running, and handles any other expenses. It’s been a real joy to have some of our biggest days here recently; we’ve been able to bless these women with large paychecks.”
At work on sewing projects (photo credit: Peace of Thread):
Renee Lamb is the Director of Peace of Thread in Memphis (an organization founded in Atlanta by Denise Smith) . If you can sew and would be willing to help refugee women learn this skill, contact Renee.
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